Social-class nature of terrorism
Comstol: Today, terrorism is one of the most pressing problems in the modern world. What is the history of this phenomenon?
V.D. Ulas: Translated from Latin, terrorism means intimidation, terrifying. At present, terrorism is usually understood as the most radical, odious form of struggle, which deliberately uses demonstrative killings of civilians. The meaning and purpose of terror is absolutely clear: demoralization, intimidation, suppression of the will to resist whether it be the people as a whole, the opposition or the government, depending on the situation.
Terrorism as a form of struggle has a long history. As a classic example of terrorism, one can cite the policy of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a dictator who lived in the first century BC in Ancient Rome. He is the author of the famous bloody proscriptions - the list of "enemies of Rome". For the extradition and murder of these persons, a reward was intended in the form of a part of their property, and death was supposed for harboring.
Mass terrorism was characteristic of the Spanish conquistadors, who massacred millions of civilians in America in the 15th-16th centuries. In general, the entire era of colonialism is characterized by the widespread use of mass terror by the mother countries against the peoples of Africa, America, India, and China.
Fascist Germany and militarist Japan have made terror their main weapon of struggle, both within the country and in aggressive wars.
A classic example of US state terrorism is the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This pre-planned brutal murder of a huge number of civilians is precisely a terrorist act, since it was aimed at suppressing the will of the Japanese to wage further war. Acts of state terrorism by the United States include the napalm carpet bombing in Vietnam, which killed tens of thousands of peasants. Here - the use of bombs with uranium tips in air bombing in Yugoslavia.
From our own recent history, the terrorist acts of the Yeltsin regime include the execution of the Parliament in 1993, when the authorities, broadcasting undisguised vandalism throughout the country, pursued a clear goal - demoralization of the country's population and opposition. The same approach was taken in Ukraine in May 2014 in Odessa when dozens of people were burned alive in the House of Trade Unions to intimidate opponents of the regime. Artillery shelling of peaceful neighborhoods in Donetsk and Lugansk had the same goal.
Comstol: What's special about the rising wave of terrorism in the last year?
V.D. Ulas: The recent events with the explosion of the A-321 aircraft and explosions in France stirred up world public opinion, caused a wave of indignation and prompted Western governments to declare the need for a more decisive fight against ISIS in particular and terrorism in general. At the same time, the true causes of modern terrorism are either deliberately hushed up or remain in the shadows. If we analyze all the arguments of Western experts on this topic, they are mostly superficial. If they are to be believed, the guilty of terrorism are evil, mentally unbalanced people guided by misanthropic motives. Another explanation from the same series: terrorism has an ethno-religious nature and lies in the irreconcilable hostility of the Muslim and Christian civilizations.
Unlike bourgeois theorists, we communists must understand that modern terrorism has clear social class roots. In our time, they mainly manifest themselves in capitalist socio-economic relations, in private property, which leads to the most severe exploitation of some people and peoples by others. And no matter how the apologists of capitalism try to embellish the essence of this formation, it has always been and will be the thirst for profit. A merciless struggle for markets, cheap labor and natural resources, a struggle in which there are no friends, no morals, no mercy - all this is the breeding ground on which modern terrorism grows - an inevitable companion of bourgeois society.
Nowadays it is customary to associate terrorism with the countries of the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It is in these regions that a huge number of poor people live. This is partly not accidental. It is these countries that in the recent past were subjected to the most severe colonial exploitation, and today they are the object of neo-colonialism, the aggressive policy of the United States and NATO. The countries of the “golden billion” still need oil, gas, gold, diamonds, agricultural raw materials, and overseas fruits to maintain their own well-being. They need military bases, the preservation of non-equivalent exchange. All this pushes the peoples of these often completely dependent countries with puppet regimes to respond, which, out of desperation, often take the form of terrorist acts.
Sincerely sympathizing with the people of France, I would like, however, to remind the world and Western European community of those tens of thousands of civilians in Yugoslavia and Libya who were killed as a result of the barbaric bombing of these countries with NATO waxes, including French aviation. I would also like to remind you that it was the West that raised those who bled Paris. After all, even faith, when these scumbags committed their vandalistic actions in Libya, Syria, Iraq, the West not only did not condemn them, but also called them fighters for democracy against the totalitarian regimes of Gaddafi, Assad, and Hussein. The militants were provided with money, weapons, instructors, political and information cover.
Comstol: How effective, in your opinion, are the policies of Western states that have declared the fight against terrorism as a priority.
V.D. Ulas: Today, all the attention of the world community is focused on ISIS. However, few understand what this political entity is. Of course, our attitude towards ISIS is largely determined by its barbaric methods of struggle - the demonstrative, extremely cruel murder of civilians, the destruction of the world heritage of mankind in the form of architectural monuments. However, we must see not only this, but also what goals this organization pursues. After all, they openly declare their intention to build a theocratic monarchy - a feudal, religious state with elements of slavery. Thus, ISIS appears in an even more odious form than modern bourgeois states. The organization deserves no justification and must certainly be fought against.
At the same time, I emphasize once again that modern Islamic terrorism has pronounced Western roots. This is a natural reaction to the attempt to maintain neo-colonial influence in the region. It is clear that the attacks are not organized by those who undermine themselves with a martyr's belt. Behind these acts of intimidation are people who are sometimes thousands of miles away in luxurious offices and apartments in the Middle East, London and Washington. Very often they are backed by special services, as was the case in Afghanistan.
When we talk about the fight against terrorism, it is necessary to understand what is hidden behind these words and whether this struggle is necessary for the ruling class. Implicit, behind-the-scenes goals in this situation sometimes become dominant. Indeed, in a bourgeois society, information itself, its content and form of presentation are an instrument of the class struggle. A case in point is the recent terrorist attacks in Paris .. The bourgeois media deliberately showed scenes of cruelty and violence in as much detail as possible. And the point here is not only in the traditional desire to make money on blood, but also in the interests of the entire bourgeois class. First, they instill fear in society, then they demonstrate the invincibility of the system and its power. Whipping up a general panic can hide all the other problems that the regime is unable to resolve. Censorship, curtailment of political freedoms, intrusion into the privacy of citizens, the fight against the opposition - everything can be attributed to an external enemy, in parallel, in an attempt to unite society around a common problem, to earn political capital.
Often the fight against terrorism is carried out more for show, because for the bourgeois class the existence of terrorism is sometimes more profitable than its elimination. In addition to the ability to keep the layman in a kind of bridle of fear, there is an opportunity, quite justifiably, at any time in the event of a threat to the ruling regime, to use the bogey of terrorism and eliminate political opponents, discarding the fig leaves of bourgeois "democracy".
It is obvious that under capitalism the fight against terrorism can only lead to the prevention of individual terrorist acts, to their postponement, to the temporary maintenance of relative stability. However, it is impossible to seriously count on success in overcoming this social phenomenon, since the struggle is not with causes, but with the effect. Terrorism can be overcome only by overcoming the social-class contradictions of capitalism. None of the socialist countries had the problem of terrorism.
Comstol: Official propaganda here may object to you, remembering the existence of the so-called. "Red Terror" and the so-called. "great terror 1937-38".
V.D. Ulas: It is necessary to understand that the "Red Terror" was a response to the White Terror in an extreme situation, when the question was being decided to be or not to be. I want to emphasize the Red Terror once again, a forced, emergency measure, used in the conditions of massacres of representatives of the Soviet government, the Bolshevik Party and citizens who sympathize with them. The Entente states armed the White Army, Basmachi, White Czechs, Petliurists and other forces, with whose hands they tried to destroy the young Soviet Republic.
In the 1930s, on the eve of the war, when it was clear to everyone that the capitalist world had armed fascist Germany and was pushing it against the USSR and that it was an inevitable war of annihilation, about the life and death of our people, intensifying the struggle against internal enemies was also a necessary measure, although tragic mistakes are also obvious from today's standpoint. At the same time, we must not forget the Shakhty case, the explosions of plants and factories of many other manifestations of sabotage aimed at destabilizing the Soviet economy.
As the Soviet Union strengthened and developed, terrorism was completely eliminated, since its social base was eliminated. The population of the country received access to education, medical care, science, culture, and government.
Comstol: How would you characterize the prospects for Russian involvement in the fight against ISIS in Syria.
V.D. Ulas : The need to fight ISIS is beyond doubt. However, by getting involved in this conflict on the territory of Syria, the Russian political leadership is trying not only to preserve the last strategic ally in the person of Assad and prevent the potential threat of the return of our fellow citizens fighting on the side of ISIS back to Russia, but also to get out of political isolation from the West.
The question is how calculated these steps are, how the armed forces of the Russian Federation are able to ensure an effective fight against ISIS only through aerial bombardments. Let me remind you that in Afghanistan, the Soviet grouping at various times numbered from 40 to 70 thousand people, and the ground forces supported not two squadrons, but entire aviation divisions. Today, the number of ISIS, according to expert estimates, is about 130-170 thousand militants. There are very big risks for our country. Firstly, Russia is focusing on itself the aggression of ISIS and other extremist organizations fighting in Syria, Egypt and Iraq, which has already manifested itself in blowing up a plane with our compatriots in Egypt. Secondly, the conduct of active hostilities may not be able to withstand our economy. It is necessary to remember the lessons of Afghanistan and the fact that politically, economically, and militarily today's Russia is dozens of times weaker than the Soviet Union.
Подробнее: http://comstol.info/2015/11/aktualnyj-komentarij/11811#ixzz7QixGbWHl
.jpg)
No comments